#408 How to Make a Few MORE Billion Dollars: Brad Jacobs

**David Senra** (0:00)
Two years ago, Brad Jacobs wrote a book called How to Make a Few Billion Dollars. I covered it all the way back on episode 335 In the two years since the book has come out, Brad has made a few more billion dollars. So his new book has the appropriate title of How to Make a Few More Billion Dollars. Brad was kind enough to send me an early copy of the book so I could read it and do an episode on it, so I want to jump right in the introduction. In the introduction, he talks about why he wrote this book. He said, after the first book, I started getting inquiries from people on topics that I didn't cover enough or at all. This sequel provides answers to those questions. And he states why he would be qualified to write such a book. He says, I start companies from scratch, assemble teams capable of extraordinary success and turn abstract ideas into billions of dollars of tangible value. But this is my favorite thing about Brad, is how much he talks about managing his mind and how over his nearly five decade career, he has learned the tools to turn an imperfect mind into a mind capable of building billions of dollars of value. And so he says, but I'm far from perfect. Psychologist Albert Ellis nailed it when he said, we're all valuable, fucked up human beings.
Well, count me among them. And so in the introduction, there's a series of what I would call like stand alone ideas from Brad. I just made a list and I just want to share some of those with you. First is this great description of just the magic of company building. He says, for me, creating shareholder value isn't just financial. It's about bringing something extraordinary into existence from absolutely nothing. Imagine this one moment, you've got an idea. And before you know it, you're looking at 150,000 employees, billions in profit and a soaring stock price on the New York Stock Exchange. It is the ultimate feat of business alchemy. Another standalone idea from the introduction, he says, this is a very crucial thing. You've got to think extraordinarily big from day one.
Nobody achieves massive success by thinking small and hoping to become big. And then the next idea is the one that I've personally benefited the most. I've spent a bunch of time with Brad. Not only did I read his first book, I got invited to have breakfast at his house. I've recorded a new conversation for my new show with Brad Jacobs. That was actually shot and filmed at his house. If you haven't seen that, just search my name, David Senra, and whatever podcast player you're listening to, and you can watch our two-hour conversation. And I've also spent time with Brad since then at a few events. And the biggest change for me was rearranging my, I say inner monologue into a much more positive mindset. One of my favorite lines in his first book is, so much of success in business comes from keeping your head in a good place. So in this book, this is what he says, and I'll explain how he helped me change the way I think, literally, the way I think, literally. A proper mindset is essential. The ability to rearrange your brain and create that mindset is entirely within your grass. And so Brad has slowly had an influence on me. One time we were at a friend's mutual birthday party in Miami. I was talking to Apollo Ono. Apollo Ono is the most decorated winter Olympian of all time. And Apollo listens to a bunch of episodes of Founders, and he asked me that question. He's like, you know, most of the people that you cover on the podcast, they are extremely driven, but usually that source is because they had a really bad childhood. They had issues with their parents. They didn't want to be poor anymore. There was some kind of negative fuel source that they then channeled into this extreme drive and persistence and focus. And Apollo asks, he's like, have you ever come across anybody where the fuel source is actually positive? And standing, I don't know, like 20 feet away, I go, hey, you see that guy?
I go, do you know who that guy is? And I pointed at Brad and Apollo didn't know who he was. So that's Brad Jacobs, he started eight separate billion dollar companies. And he has some of the most positive, maybe the most positive infectious energy of any human I've ever been around. And Brad started out with that. He talks about that in a little bit in this book, but a lot in his first book as well, that he used to just beat himself up. He said this, he used to expect perfection, and we didn't reach perfection. His inner monologue was so negative. And one of the things I learned from talking to Brad and observing Brad is like over time, it's fine if you start out with a negative fuel source.